ATM/Credit Cards

I think it's okay but just checking. Can I use my ATM and credit cards from the US in other coutries, mainly NZ. They are either VISA or Mastercard. I know they say accepted anywhere but I want to make sure. Anybody run into any problems? Would you recommend this? Should I make a separate account for this money?

I have not gone yet, but i’ve been doing a lot of research into the money side of things as i’m extremely paranoid!!!

I’m from Oz, which is great for me because we’re so interconnected with NZ that my bank is in NZ as well so i don’t get any charges or anything. So i can just use my eftpos card and my credit card.

You will be able to use mastercard or visa anywhere. The only thing my bank was adamant about is i have a savings/credit linked card, and when o’sea’s i can only use the credit card, it wouldn’t work for the eftpos, i need to order a separate card.

We accept o’sea’s credit cards where i work – they’re no different, in fact, i just had a Hungarian one the other day!

But what you really need to do, is go and see your bank. They will give you all the advice you need – specifically relating to your situation.

I went to New Zealand back in May and I took a couple hundred dollars in cash and exchanged it at the airport, but I mostly used my debit card while I was there. You might get a few small service fees, but nothing outrageous. Also, our tour manager told us to make sure we had cash in the south island because a lot of the little towns to do not take cards. If you need cash when you get there you can find ATMs in the cities…I didn’t run into any monetary problems while I was in NZ.

hey..is it necessary to exchange all of your american dollars? do places except american currency or am i better off exchanging all of it or half of it,etc? also, what are the bank fees like if i have an american debit card?im most likely going on the grand explorer at the end of october!!aimee

Hi Aimee – I haven’t been yet, but i can tell you that if you came here, you would have to use Aus dollars everywhere. I don’t know of anywhere that would accept us dollars. I can only assume it would be the same in NZ. Someone else might be able to confirm this, but i operate on the pretense of ‘better to be safe than sorry!’

Hiya guys,Being from NZ, but living in Australia, I go back home a few times.When it comes to ATMS, so long as your card has the logo “maestro” or “cirrus” on the back, and u find an atm with them logos, you can access cash. It will be taken out in NZ dollars, however you will be charged an international access fee. So, try and take as much cash out at the one time – not just $20 here and there. I know I get charged $5 each time I get cash from an ATM.Yarni’s right when saying that if you’re in the country, you need to use their currency. Most airports/banks can change the money to NZ currency for you, for a small charge of course!Hope this helps!

Anyone who can’t use their standard atm card and is going overseas who needs a solution listen up-you can go to any bank or bureau de change and get whats called a ‘cash passport’. How they work is you tell them what currency you need the card in then give them however much of your own currency to deposit. It then goes into this cash passport account and you get a atm card which can be used at any atm in the world with a visa symbol. It costs 1% of whatever you deposit as commision and costs $3.75 aussie to withdraw money but sometimes you do not get a balance slip although you can keep track online on their website. I went to america last year and had no trouble at all with this!

If anyone else needs advice just email me at mysterygirl01@hotmail.com